1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejection device.
2. Related Art
An inkjet printer (hereinafter referred to as a “printer”), which is one type of liquid ejection device, performs printing by ejecting ink (liquid) onto a recording medium through nozzles formed in a nozzle formation surface of a recording head (liquid ejection head) incorporated in a carriage.
Because the water content of the ink tends to evaporate through openings of the nozzles, the viscosity of the ink in the nozzles increases and hence the nozzles are easily clogged. A printer is typically designed to prevent the nozzles from being clogged by performing a maintenance step (cleaning, flushing, or any other suitable step) of forcibly discharging ink in the nozzles on a regular basis.
Such a printer is further designed, when not in use, to inhibit evaporation of the water content of the ink through the openings of the nozzles by sealing the nozzle formation surface of the recording head with a cap (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-146018, for example).